


safety

by CoffeeStainedPaper



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F, I don't know what I'm doing, I'm Sorry, Mutual Pining, One-Shot, Shorty's, Slow Burn, season one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2021-01-29 07:26:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21406417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoffeeStainedPaper/pseuds/CoffeeStainedPaper
Summary: It was a long night at Shorty's; Nicole brings Waverly some comfort. This takes place sometime between Waverly and Nicole's meeting and Shorty's death.
Relationships: Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught
Comments: 2
Kudos: 72





	safety

**Author's Note:**

> If you're here reading this, thank you!

Waverly turned the open sign on the door to closed so quickly it slapped and swung wildly on its hook. The shift from hell finally ended and not a second too soon. Being the only reputable bar in town lined her pockets with handsome tips but usually at the cost of her sanity.

Shorty sighed and threw his towel over his shoulder, “Helluva night, huh Waverly?” He wiped sweat from his brow then pressed his palms to the one dry spot on the beer-soaked bar. 

“I’ll say.” She shook her head and sucked in so much air in one breath she thought she might explode from the tension she’d collected over their eight-hour shift, 

“You can head home if you want and I’ll take care of everything here.” Shorty offered a weak smile. 

“That’s okay, Shorty. I’ll stay.” She said sighing. She smiled back at him then took in the extent of the damage. Broken glass decorated the floor from the fight that took both Nedley and the new officer to break up. Waverly’s shoes stuck to the floor from all the dried alcohol. Bottles and glasses sat on every imaginable surface. They’d been so busy; she didn’t have the time to collect them beforehand. If Shorty had known that Pussy Willows had closed to fumigate, he would have asked for more help.

Instead, it would be just the two of them which felt as natural as breathing. Shorty was family after all the nights he’s let Waverly rant about her issues with champ and offer to quiz her for upcoming exams while they cleaned up the bar. 

“Well then, if you don’t mind, I’m going to go take care of the money business in the office and then I’ll finish whatever you don’t get done out here after that.” He didn’t wait for her to reply because it was the same offer every time, they had got their asses kicked.

“Okay!” She shouted after him knowing he probably didn’t hear her. She enjoyed being alone sometimes. The emptiness of the bar was such a relieving sight. Finally, there was space for her thoughts to be more than strategic bartending. 

Waverly started the miraculous resurrection of Shorty’s by sweeping up all the glass. Once that was done, she picked up all the empty bottles and glasses. As soon as she turned the corner with the bus tub, the front door opened. 

“We’re closed.” She yelled trying not to let the irritation show in her voice too much. 

“I know!” Officer Haught stepped out of the doorway with her hands up. 

Relief washed over Waverly, but she couldn’t explain why. It wasn’t like earlier when she got to turn the sign around. It wasn’t because an officer was there to keep the crazies away. The feeling was more like seeing a good friend after years had gone by without them ad the familiarity of their presence made you glow inside. But Officer Haught wasn’t familiar, and yet Waverly was glowing. 

“What are you doing here so late?” Waverly asked. 

“Well actually, it’s early and I wanted to see if you were still here. But hold on just a second. I’ll be right back.” Nicole disappeared and quickly reappeared but brought a box in with her this time. “I stopped by and got some donuts for you. I’m glad I caught you here rather than having to leave them at the station where someone else would have eaten them.” The officer’s dimpled smile took up her whole face, and her voice softened like a feather floating to the floor. 

“Awe!” Surprise made gratitude bloom in Waverly’s chest. “You take serve and protect to a whole new level, don’t you?”

“I try my best to keep the only good bartender in all of Purgatory feeling appreciated.” Nicole’s smile evolved into a blushing mess. Waverly’s bun atop her head was falling apart with every passing second and sleepiness haunted her around the bar. There was no denying that Nicole stole glances of her during the fight and had to turn butterflies into determination to get the hoodlums away from Shorty’s. The way her crop-top slouched off one shoulder and showed the perfect amount of midriff always made for a sweet distraction. 

“Waverly,” Shorty came around the corner rubbing the back of his neck in nothing short of exhaustion, “I’m all finished out here and I think that it’s time to call it quits. You’ve got a lot done out here, and I don’t want Gus fussin’ at me for having you out so late.” His smile dissolved when his eyes landed on Officer Haught loitering around with a box of donuts. “No offense, officer, but is there a reason you’re here?”

“Yes, she’s taking me home!” Waverly blurted out. She and Nicole exchanged a wide-eyed glance. “Champ won’t answer his phone and Wynonna is, uh, busy so Nicole is here to give me a ride.” 

Nicole nodded. “Yeah, just doing my duty…giving Waverly all the rides she wants.” Nicole recoiled at her own statement, and she added a “woo” trying to get a laugh out of the awkwardness but to no avail. 

“Okay. Be safe. Tell Gus I said sorry.” Shorty dipped back to the office, leaving the two women alone in the aftermath of impromptu bullshitting. 

The awkward tension in the room only blossomed from that point forward. Waverly noticed Nicole’s forlorn glances, eyes drinking her in and lingering on her lips. The more Nicole stared; the more Waverly became curious about the person behind the badge. Did she like chick-flicks and popcorn with too much butter? Did she like adventures like jumping out of a plane at 14,000 feet or eat geoduck? Would Nicole actually listen when she started rambling about ancient history and dead languages? 

The unknown added to the magnetism that already resided within that dimpled smile and those soft eyes. 

“Take me home?” A smile tugged at one corner of her mouth. How did she feel so shy suddenly? 

“Yeah, I’d like that.” Nicole murmured. Waverly tried to contain a nervous laugh which snapped Nicole out of her dazed state. “I mean, of course! Just doing my job! Let’s get you back to Gus and Wynonna, huh?” 

“Yeah.” The word seemed to fall flat on the floor, weighted by guilt. Waverly noticed that sometimes her cutesy daydreams about being swept off her feet with poetry and roses by Champ turned into Nicole mid-kiss. When the lips drawing her in turned soft as a feather and the hands holding her waist melted into her with built-up longing, she had no choice but to push deeper into the kiss. Into whatever freedom came at the cost of everything she knew. It was always after she caught herself pushing into the daydream kiss that the guilt yanked her away. Forsaking all she ever knew, her and Champ Hardy, for the unknown? 

“Come on, before I get in trouble with Shorty.” Nicole nudged Waverly with her elbow, collected the box of donuts, and started toward the door with Waverly trailing closely behind. 

* * *

The ride home in Nicole’s police cruiser was quiet in that awful sort of way where you can’t stop thinking about the person beside you wondering if they were thinking any of the same things. The way Nicole stroked her thumb over the gearshift made her think she was also thinking about holding hands. But that would be so inappropriate. 

“Well, I guess this is your stop.” Nicole put the car in park and turned to Waverly with a smile. 

“Yep! Home sweet home!” Waverly sighed. “Thanks for being so flexible on the spot with me. I’m sure you have better things to do than drive little-ole-me home.” 

“Are you kidding? Seeing you is the best part of my job.” Nicole couldn’t help but pat Waverly on the knee, regretting it immediately. 

“I bet you say that to all the pretty girls.” Waverly blushed, leaning a little bit closer to Nicole without realizing it. 

“No, just you.” 

In the quiet that followed Nicole’s words, Waverly looked down to realize she had caught the hand that patted her knee. Their fingers were interlocked. Perfectly. Devotedly. Like they were always meant to be that way. 

Waverly pulled her hand away as if from a fire. “I have to go now. I exhausted.” She said through bated breath. 

“Yeah, we should both try to get some rest.” Nicole unlocked the car doors and turned her eyes out the windshield instead of at Waverly. 

“Yeah.” Again, the word fell flat, weighed down by guilt. 

Waverly got out of the car. When she got into the headlights, she turned to smile and wave one last time because something wouldn’t let her go inside without seeing Nicole one last time. Through the glass of the windshield. Where she was safe.  
She got to the door and heard the tires roll away down the dirt driveway.

But maybe love wasn’t safe.


End file.
